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Hard to believe but this is my 500th blog post. Thank you to everyone who follows this blog and the Delphi Insider Twitter, and for the 1.2 million views so far. I hope you find the information useful.

And for this special 500th blog post, some exciting news with an updated RAD Studio Roadmap.

And if you're excited about what you see, don't forget that you get the next major release free if you buy or upgrade to RAD Studio XE7, Delphi XE7 or C++Builder XE7 now (between Feb 23 and March 31, 2015).

Here are some of the most talked about new features delivered in RAD Studio XE7 that will help you and your team build and extend high performance, connected apps up to 20x faster! See What's New in RAD Studio XE7: Everything you need to know in this video in under five minutes!

NEW Components for Highly Connected Apps: Embrace the expanding world of Backend as a Service (BAAS) with easy to use components for Kinvey and Parse. Including user management, push notifications and more...

Excited about what you see?Buy or upgrade to XE7 now and get access to the amazing new features and free bonuses including the next major version free! Don’t miss out.Contact Sales 1-888-233-2224 or Buy Online

Did you really think that SQL was going away? Attend this session to learn how SQL is a vital part of the next generation of data environments. Find out how you can use your existing SQL tools in the big data ecosystem. This is a video replay from the DataU Online Conference.

Oz Basarir is the product manager of Embarcadero’s database management and development tools. Having worked over the last two decades with databases at a spectrum of companies as small as his own to as large as Oracle and SAP, he has an appreciation for diversity of the data ecosystems as well as for the tried-and-true languages (SQL).

It’s that time for me to buy some new WiFi enabled devices. I’ve been playing with medical/fitness gadgets for too long: heart rate monitors, oximeters, blood pressure cuffs and blood sugar monitors. It’s time to move into the kitchen. Here are two WiFi enabled kitchen devices that I have to purchase and start some programming with RAD Studio XE7: "Crock-Pot Smart Wifi-Enabled WeMo 6-Quart Slow Cooker" and "Mr. Coffee Smart Wifi-Enabled WeMo 10-Cup Optimal Brew Coffeemaker".

A common question for a developer is how to store data. While file formats like INI files. XML, CSV etc provide a simple way to store data, they are often not secure enough or provide enough features for most applications. This is when a data store is required. One such option is an embedded database.

What is an embedded database?

An Embedded database is one that can be deployed inside or along side you application. They are called embedded as they can be silently deployed / installed to provide database support without the need of a separate admin intensive process. Embedded databases should be fast, have a small foot print, provide admin free capabilities all at the same time as providing full features SQL capabilities. Unfortunately, not all embedded databases provide complete capabilities, InterBase however is very feature rich in all editions. For more about Embedded databases and the different types they come in, watch the short video below.

If you haven't purchased or upgrade to Delphi, RAD Studio or C++Builder XE7 yet, there has never been a better time. If you buy or upgrade now, you get the next major release free. This is in addition to the Buy One, Get One offer and the Bonus Pack.

Here's the info on it from the Embarcadero web site:

Get the Next Major Release Free!

Buy XE7 and get a free next major release to keep you up to date with latest hotfixes, exclusive content, support and more. Purchase a qualifying RAD Studio, Delphi or C++Builder XE7 product by March 31, 2015 to get the next major release free!

Availability: Available on purchases from February 23 - March 31, 2015.

How to get it: Once the next major release is ready, you will receive email instructions on accessing the maintenance portal to redeem your free copy. You must redeem your free copy within 2 weeks of the release.

Restrictions Apply. Not available with purchase Academic and Starter editions. See qualifying SKUs.

I was recently asked how to connect to InterBase from Visual Studio, and while its not something I have done before, luckily I know a man who has. – Thanks to Gabe Goldfield for checking the example below with InterBase XE7 and Visual Studio 2013 Ultimate.

Here's a copy of the latest RAD Studio, Delphi and C++Builder XE7 email. This one focuses on FireUI, one of the great new exclusive features in XE7 (and a reason to buy or upgrade).

Radically Better UI Design with FireUI

“The XE7 FireUI Multi-Device designer allows us to create a master view and customize the layout for numerous other devices. The development time it saves is worth the upgrade to XE7 alone.”- Andrew Tierney, CastleSoft

Building User Interfaces for multiple form factors is challenging and resource intensive yet is becoming a common requirement. Introducing FireUI. Rather than building a completely separate User Interface for each form factor, FireUI allows you to create a common UI that can be natively optimized for different form factors. Share UI controls, event handling logic, and more across all form factors but deliver the best user experience for each device – you need to try it to believe it.

Create an app for Windows, OS X, iOS and Android in minutes!

New! Multi-Device Designer – focus on a common design with optimized inherited views for each target platform and device

New! MultiView Smart Layout Component – easily deliver the user expected layout and behavior for each form factor and platform

Critical Fixes in Previous Versions Now Included With Update Subscription!Did you know we’ve updated Support and Maintenance, now called Update Subscription, to include critical fixes for previous versions of RAD Studio, Delphi and C++Builder at no additional cost? Now you’ll get critical hotfixes and updates on previous versions for up to 2 years from release, early beta access and more! Learn about Update Subscription >

You’re invited to join me for a discussion and demonstration on how App Tethering and Bluetooth can be used to create exciting and new Internet of Things (IoT) solutions with distributed, connected apps.

RAD in Action: Building Connected Apps with Bluetooth and App Tethering

Useful IoT apps are not stand-alone mobile apps, but are distributed over several tiers, gadgets and devices such as operating system platforms including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, as well as middle-ware, cloud, servers, and enterprise services. Bluetooth integrates IoT into an app solution. With App Tethering you can also breathe new life into existing desktop applications by extending them to include IoT.